Mills River council delays vote on proposed nursing home

By Gary GlancyTimes-News correspondent

Published: Thursday, December 13, 2012 at 11:23 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, December 13, 2012 at 11:23 p.m.

MILLS RIVER – Town Council tabled a vote Thursday night to grant a special-use permit for a proposed 50-bed nursing home on N.C. Highway 191, after two nearby property owners expressed concerns about the project.

At the recommendation of town attorney Sharon Alexander, council members voted unanimously to recess Thursday’s public hearing on the matter to Jan. 10 to allow the permit applicant, Asheville-based Henderson-Beystone Healthcare Properties, and its engineering firm for the project, William G. Lapsley and Associates, to propose a different plan that addresses concerns about excess storm-water runoff coming onto adjoining properties.

The proposed Mills River Health and Rehabilitation would be located on about 10 acres of property across from Laurel Terrace Road, with plans to develop a 34,000 square foot skilled nursing facility and a 1,200 square foot maintenance building in phase 1, as well as a future 8,000 square foot office building.

The entire acreage is located in the Mills River Mixed Use Zoning District, which is established to allow all uses – excluding hazardous waste and radioactive waste disposal facilities and adult establishments – but to regulate certain uses to ensure that “neighborhood impact is mitigated.”

Longtime Mills River residents Jerry Metcalf and Jack Carver, each of whom own property adjacent to the proposed facility, voiced at length numerous concerns they have about the project during the public hearing.

They included increased traffic on the already busy road, light pollution at night and altering the residential and agricultural nature of the area into commercial property.

“It devalues the property greatly,” Metcalf said, “as far as it not being residential and farmland. That doesn’t make me very happy.”

The greatest worry for Metcalf and Carver, however, was the storm-water runoff issue, despite engineer Bill Lapsley’s explanation of a high-tech, porous storm-water treatment system. The town council, appearing to be behind the project during deliberations following the public hearing, did share the property owners’ concerns about the storm-water matter enough to put its vote on hold.

In the meantime, Lapsley and his team plan to work individually with Metcalf and Carver to study their properties in considering an alternative plan.

In other business:

The town received a strong audit report in which its budgeted revenue projections were nearly right on target, according to auditor Carl Shaw.

“The town continues to have a strong financial basis,” Shaw told the council and town staff.

Shaw also said the town has shown a 98 percent tax collection rate this year.

“You really can’t do much better than that,” he said, “especially at a time when bankruptcies are affecting collections. If you have 95 percent or above, you’ve done really, really well.”

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